Steve Stephens was found after ordering a 20-piece McNuggets; shooter in California says he hates white people; Arkansas is sued again; and more headlines for your drive home Tuesday, April 18, 2017.

staff and wire reports

ERIE, Pa. — Steve Stephens’ taste for McDonald’s helped the Pennsylvania State Police catch the accused Facebook killer in Erie, according to GoErie.com.

Employees at the McDonald’s on Buffalo Road, in Harborcreek Township, said a drive-through attendant alerted state police when Stephens stopped at the restaurant’s drive-through window shortly after 11 a.m.

The McDonald’s is about five miles east of where state police stopped Stephens in Erie.

VIDEO FORM THE SCENE VIA GOERIE.COM

LIVE UPDATES VIA GOERIE.COM

FRESNO SHOOTER SAYS HE HATES WHITE PEOPLE

FRESNO, Calif. — A man shot and killed three people on the streets of downtown Fresno on Tuesday, shouting "God is great" in Arabic during at least one of the slayings and later telling police that he hates white people, authorities said.

Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, was arrested shortly after the rampage, whose victims were all white, police said. He also was wanted in connection with another killing days earlier, in which a security guard was gunned down at a Fresno motel after responding to a disturbance.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said the victims were shot minutes apart in close proximity in areas around downtown. He said Muhammad made other statements to police but he did not disclose them.

MAN GETS 25 YEARS FOR 1979 SLAYING OF A FIRST-GRADER

NEW YORK — Almost four decades after first-grader Etan Patz set out for school and ended up at the heart of one of America's most influential missing-child cases, a former store clerk convicted of killing him was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison.

In a few angry words, Etan's father condemned the convicted man.

"Pedro Hernandez, after all these years, we finally know what dark secret you had locked in your heart," Stan Patz said. "I will never forgive you. The god you pray to will never forgive you. You are the monster in your nightmares."

SUPPLIER SUES AGAIN OVER ARKANSAS EXECUTION DRUG

A medical supply company is suing again to try and prevent Arkansas from using a lethal injection drug in the upcoming executions of two convicted killers, saying it was sold to be used for medical purposes.

McKesson Corp. asked a Pulaski County judge Tuesday to order Arkansas officials to return its supply of vecuronium bromide, one of three drugs used in the state's lethal injection protocol. The company has said prison officials misleadingly obtained the drug.

The lawsuit revives the company's attempts to block the use of the drug in Arkansas' executions. The state Supreme Court on Monday had lifted a judge's order blocking the drug's use in executions, which the company had initially sought. McKesson had asked to withdraw that lawsuit after a federal judge halted the state's multiple execution plan, but that judge's ruling was reversed by an appeals court Monday.

US REASSURES JAPAN OF SUPPORT

TOKYO — From two continents, top Trump administration officials warned Tuesday that North Korea's latest failed missile launch was a reckless act of provocation and assured allies in Asia that the United States was ready to work to achieve a peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

While Defense Secretary Jim Mattis denounced North Korea's weapons test as he began a Mideast tour, Vice President Mike Pence offered support to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo amid a trip dominated by concerns about the rogue state's nuclear intentions.

"We appreciate the challenging times in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocations from across the Sea of Japan," Pence said after arriving from Seoul for talks with Abe. "We are with you 100 percent."